Voltage-regulator.



W. G. KINTON. VOLTAGE REGULATOR. APPLiOATION FILED mm: 24, 1903.

Patented June 30,1914,

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W. G. KINTON. VOLTAGE REGULATOR. APPLIOATION rum) JUNE 24, 1908.

1,101,938. Patented June 30,1914.

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W. G. KINTON. VOLTAGE REGULATOR. nrmounm mum 51111324, 1903. 1,101,938,Patented June 30,1914. a sums-sum a.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

WILLIAM G. KINTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRICCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

VOLTAGE-REGULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1914.

' To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. KmToN, citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Voltage-Regulators, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact-description.

.This invention relates to voltage regulators for dynamo-electricmachines, and its object is to provide means by which the voltfollowingabrupt changes in load demanded by the circuit in which theyare-included.

age of the machine may be kept nearly constant under all conditions ofservice.

It is customary in telephone exchanges to provide a source-of currentfor ringing the bells at the subscribers stations. This source may be analternating current generator driven by'a direct, current motor, or itmay be 'a dynamoto-r. or motor-generator. The field and armature of themotor may be supplied with current from a storage battery or othersource of the generator The infor regulating the flow of current to themotor and thereby the Voltage of the generator.

The invention relates more particularly to the automatic regulation ofthe dynamo or generator voltage in such a system, and to this end itcomprises two instrumentalidirect current. battery leads to the motormay have 'tie s, one relatively sluggish and adapted to adjust therheostat so as to supply current of greater or less voltage to the motorupon variation in load of the external circuit of the generator, thisregulation being under the direct-control of the voltage condition oftahty coijperates with the rheostat adjusting means in such a mannerthat sudden changes in the load on the generator will not result in asudden increase or decrease in the voltage of the motor circuit. Inother words, the Volta e at the terminals of the motor will by thisfeature of the invention e maintained almost constant, notwithstandingthe battery leads, during the brief interval followinga sudden change inload on the gene'rator and preceding the response of the more sluggishrheostat adjustingjdevice.

' The device which is preferred and which is shown herein for takingcare of sudden changes inload on the generator consists of they areshunted.

leads; the other instrumen- -5 is a plan view presence ofresistance inthe to the ringersl shunted about the resistance coils of the adustable. rheostat. Such cells connected n th1s manner become charged,during a quiet or unvarying condition of load on the generator, to avoltage equal to the drop in potential in the resistance about whichTheir current charge and their voltage are subject to changes withchanges in current through the resistance, but they have large capacityfor supplying or absorbing currentduring brief periods Thus in thesystem of this invention, sudden changes in load in the generator,either in'- cient device for adjusting the resistance varying rheostat,a hot wire rela is used together with an electromagnetic clutch drivingmechanism, which, although capable of rather quick response to changesin voltage, are not so quick in their action as the electrolytic cellswhich may be depended upon to act instantly.

The invention may be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings in WhlCh- Figure 1 is a diagram of circuits andapparatus embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the-rheostat and the clutch mechanism which may be employed for controllingits operation; Fig. 3 is an end View of the rheostat, the end supporttherefor being-omitted for sakeof clearness; Fig. 4 is a centralhorizontal section throu h the mechanism shown in Fig. 2; and Fig.

relay for controlling theoperation of the clutch mechanism.

Like parts are indicated by the same reference characters throughout thedifferent views.

of a floating or hot-wire Referring to Fig.1, A represents a dynamotorsuch as is used for supplying ringing currents for telephone systems.This dynamotor is of the usual construct-ion, and in the diagram 1designates the motor element and '2, 3 the generator slip rings fromwhich 3 current is supplied to the mains 4, 5, leading The field windingarmature of the motor are supplied with out:

a counter-electromotive force cell or cells 1 rent from a battery 7,which may be a 6 and the)" it isincluded are indicated motor .is at restpresses a condition of o eration,

age battery or other suitable'source of current. This winding may befield is nearly saturated, and therefore the flux through the armaturewould be nearly constant, in which case the voltage and frequency of thecurrent delivered by the generator winding would vary with theresistance in the battery supply leads; or this field may be sounsaturated as to give the motor a practically constant speed, in whichcase the frequency wouldbe practically constant and the voltage wouldvary with leads. It comprlses a resistance 8. The number of coils ofthis resistance which are included in the circuit may be varied byadjusting the position of the rhe'ostat arm 9.

The movement of the arm 9 is controlled by an electromagnetic clutch.mechanism whichin turn is controlled by the hot wire relay B, and thisrelay in turn is controlled and responds to'variations in voltage at thegenerator leads i, 5.

The floating or hot-wire relay B is shown in detail in Fig. 5, and thecircuits in which in Fig. 1. Its function is to open or "close thecontacts 10, 11 in accordance with the voltageof the alternating currentdelivered --by the dyna-' motor A. The, relay comprises two wires 12,

- 13, preferably of the same diameter, material and length. The lowerends of these wires 12, 13 are connected to levers 14,15, respectively,pivoted on a suitable'mounting plate. The upper ends of these wires areconnected 'to a common lever 16 similarly pivoted. This lever is heldunder tension by an adjustable spring 17. The tension upon each wire'12, 13Jmay also be independently regulated by means of the adjustingscrews 18, which bear against the ends of the -levers '14, 15,

The contact-arm 19 is mounted on a flat flexible spring 20 which in turnis mounted upon the 'supp'ortingbase. This arm 19 lies between the wires12, 13 and carries a block of insulating material 21, the opposite endsof which are connected to said wiresv intermediate the ends thereof, Bythis means as to tension that the free end of contact arm 19 when theainst contact 10. Under the normal however, current being supplied romthe leads 4, 5 through he wire 12, the contact arm 19 takes a positionmidwaybetween and without 'to'uching either of the contacts 10 or 11.'If for any reason,-lsuchas variationof .room temperature, thetemperatureof both -wires-12, 13 changes the same amount, thus 'roducing an equalchange the length of I th wiresythe only efiect will be tochangethe-pull on the spring 17 ,the-contact arm 19 remammgfm "ts midwayposition; If, however, the voltage ain't-he leads 4, 5, rises abovenormal, the wire 12 abnorsuch that the ance 22. If,

the field. A rheostat D is included in one of the battery stantlyrotated that the wire 12 is connected to the dynamotor leads 1, 5through a suitable resistfor any reason, the voltage 0 the currentfurnished to the mains 4, 5 rises or falls, the resulting increase'ordecrease of current flowing through the wire 12 cause a correspondinglengthening or shortening of that wire, and thus a movement 0 thecontact arm 19 to the contact point 11 or 10. The movement of the arm 19depends on the difference in length of the two wires 12, 13 and not ontheir absolute lengths, and hence the same change in current ow throughthe wire 12 will produce the same deflection of the contact arm 19regardless of the temperature of the room in which the apparatus islocated; The regulating wire 12 of the relay B should be small so thatthe wire will heat or cool off rapidly, as the case may be, in responseto changes in voltage. I have found that a .003" wire will givesatisfactory results.

As before stated, the function of the hot wire relay B is to-control theelectromagnetically-operated mechanism for rotating the rheostat arm 9.Any suitable mechanism of this kind may be employed, as for example adouble acting ratchet and wheel and two relays, one to operate theratchet in one direction, and the other in the opposite direction,- suchas is shown United States Patent to Edison, No. 287,511 of October 30th,1883'. In the drawings is shown an alternative scheme comprising anelectromagnetic clutch mechanism C The clutch mechanism C comprises twoelectrom agnets 23,24 afiixed to the pulleys 25, 26, respectively.:These pulleys are conin opposite directions by means of belts and aconstantly rotating shaft 27 The electromagnets 23, 24 and pulleys 25,26 are loosely mounted on a shaft 28 which carries the rheosta't arm 9.A mag netic disk 29 is fixed upon the shaft 28 between theelectromagnets 23, 24 so as to have a longitudinal movement with respectto the sha v Each of the magnets 23, 24 is inclosed in an iron cylinder30, and one end of each magnet winding is connected to its cylinder, theother terminal of the winding being connected to a metallic pulley towhich the magnet is afiixed. magnets 23, 24 may be ed by the battery 7through forked brush 32 hearing on the cylinders 30,-.and, brushes 33,34bearing upon the two contact metallic rings 31. The leads w ill.

for example in.

ring 31 carried on thefrom the brushes 33, 34 are normally closed I and36, respectively, .11 of the hotwire relay through contacts 35 thecontacts .10 and B, but the rotation of theshaft 28 in posithe circuitof the tion to cut in or out-all-of the resistance 8 Wlll bring an-arm37 or-anarm 38, as the vcase may be, into position to'engage the springsof contacts 35'or'36 to open said contacts and thus to open the circuitthrough that one of the magnetic clutches which had operatedto bring-thearmto suchposition. Upon the operationof the-relay B to closecontact lO,current will'flow from battery 7 through the arm 19, COIFlCtS 10 and;

35, brush 33,-metallic-ring- 31 the windings of the electromagnet 23,brush 32 to the op-- posite pole of battery 7. The-magnet 23,-

being thus energized, will attract the disk. shaft 28 into 29, therebybringing the clutched engagement withthe rotatingpul ley 25, whereuponthe arm 9-will be-moved in a clockwise direction outv some of theresistance 8. In casethoshaft 28 is rotated sufficiently to cutout allof the resistance, further rotation in the samedirection will cause thearm 37 to open electromagnet 23 at the contact 35, thus deeneriizing themagnet 28 and releasing the'clutc thus stopping the rotation of theshaft 28. The rotation-of the shaft 28 in the opposite direction to cutin more of the resistance 8 is brought about in a similar manner uponthe closure 01 contact 11 by the energization of the electro magnet 24.v j

The speed at which the arm 9 may be moved to vary the resistance 8 isdependent upon the capacity of the machine to adjust itself to thechanged conditions, that is to say, to the changing voltage in thegenera tor leads. If the resistance be changed to rapidly, the machinewill lag behind, and, after the clutch mechanism stops, will build upabove or drop below the required voltage. The farther apart the limitsof the required voltage are, the faster the resistance may be varied.With limits of 80 to 90 volts in the ringing current, I have found thatthe resistance 8 could be varied in one second so as to compensate forthe full load being thrown on at once, when the-battery 7 was at 28volts. By arranging the magnetic clutch so that mechanism can be made torun at a speed of to gradually cut.

force-impiessed-upon the machine when the ringing load changes-suddenly.In short, these cells 40 tend to keepthe voltage drop across theresistance 8 constant by supplyingor-absorbing energy following suddenchangesin load. If the cells 40 were not in shunt of the resiltance 8,the drop in voltage through that resistance would always e proportionalto the current in the bat-t tery lead,-and hence a sudden change in loadwould suddenly change this drop. With the 1 cells 40in shuntabout theresistance, however, the drop will not be more than the potentialofthese cells, and asthey remain ,nearly constant forbrief periodsregardless of current, sudden changes in load will cause -only a;gradual change in the -drop ofpo- Itential:=across the resistance. 8.Thus the =cells 4e0- serve to maintain a nearly constant voltage. to themotor of the dynamotor upon sudden changes in load on the generator dur-Iing thebrief interval preceding the operaltion of the more sluggish hotwire relay B. Current flows through the counter-electromotive. forcecells momentarily following sistance into it releases quickly, theclutch- .of short duration but of-suflicient duration to take care ofthe sudden changes in load. lFollowing such sudden changes the cellswill .gradually pick up and assume a potential equal to the dropinvoltage across the resistance 8 about which they are shunted.

"The counter-electroinotive force cells 40 unayconsist of ordinary-glassjars with a electrodes. Although a plurality of cells 40, each shuntinga portion of the resistance 8 areshown, it is not essential that thisparticular arrangement or division of the resections be used. The twocells may be joined in series, in one shunt circuit of the wholeresistance, or three or more cells may be connected, either in thismanner or so that each will shunt a definite por- ,tion of the wholeresistance. The important requirement is that the whole or major part atleast of the resistance in the circuit shall be shunted by one or morecounterelectromotive cells of such capacity that they will act to supplyor absorb energy .115

'momentarily in suflicient quantities to take in the electromotive rentit will float between the contacts 10 and brine electrolyte and iron andaluminum 10o variable resistance 8 so '125 g tions in voltage in saidvarying said a circuit therefor,

11 and-will close one or the other of said contacts upon even a verysmall variation of the current strength.

I claim 1. In apparatus of the described character, the combination witha dynamo of including a source of current, an adjustable sectionalresistance in said circuit, fixed contacts for said resistance sections,a moving contact therefor, and counter 'electromotive force cellsincluded in a shunt around the sections of said resistance. 2. In anapparatus of the described character, the combination with a dynamoelectric machine and a circuit therefor including a source of current,of an adjustable sectional resistance in said circuit, means forautomatically varying said resistance, a shunt circuit around sectionsof said resistance and means in said shunt for regulating the drop inelectro-in'otivev force across the sections of said resistance.

'3. In apparatus of the described char- K acter, the combination with adynamotor, of

a motor circuit therefor including a source of current and a a dynamocircuit means responsive to variaresistance, a shunt around saidresistance, and means in said shunt for reguminals of .around saidresistance,

variable resistance, a v

d namo circuit for lating the drop in voltage between the tersaidresistance.

4. In an apparatus of acter, the combination with a dynamotor, of amotor circuit therefor including a source of current, a variableresistance in said circuit, a dynamo circuit means responsive tovariations in voltage in said dynamo circuit for varying saidresistance, a shunt and counter electromotive force cells in-said shuntfor regulating the dropin voltage across said resistance. I

5. The combination with a d namotor,

motor and dynamo circuits there or, and a source of current in saidmotor circuit, of an adjustable resistance in the motor circuit, meansresponsive to variations in voltage in the dynamo circuit for varyingsaid resistance, a shunt around said resistance and means in saidshunt'for preventing sudden changes in voltage between the terminals of saidresistance.

In witness w mgy) name this .fourth day of June A. D., l 8;

WILLIAM G. KINTON. Witnessess:

R. T. ALLowAY, RALPH G, J ormnsnu.

the described char-- hereof, I hereunto subscribe

